Big Belly's BBQ
FROM MENU REQUEST TO A FULL BRAND VISION
A home-based BBQ business known for weekend dinners and platters asked me to design a menu. I saw something bigger: friends and customers kept telling the owner he should open a restaurant, so instead of just designing a menu, I built the brand that restaurant could become — starting with the name itself.
Developed a cohesive visual identity system including logo architecture, typography, color palette, brand positioning, photography direction, tone of voice, and scalable brand applications. The system was built to maintain consistency across print, packaging, retail, environmental, and digital executions.
Designed a large-scale environmental branding concept to increase neighborhood visibility and reinforce brand personality. The side-of-building mural functions as both local advertising and a high-impact brand statement, creating instant recognition for commuters, residents, and catering customers.
A full-scale concept brand system for a neighborhood BBQ restaurant, designed to extend beyond the dining experience into environmental branding, packaging, catering, retail, merchandise, and digital touchpoints. The goal was to create a bold, memorable personality rooted in community, flavor, and visual consistency across every customer interaction.
Developed a cohesive visual identity system including logo architecture, typography, color palette, brand positioning, photography direction, tone of voice, and scalable brand applications. The system was built to maintain consistency across print, packaging, retail, environmental, and digital executions.
Role: Creative Director / Brand Founder (concept originated and developed independently)
Scope: Naming • Brand Identity • Packaging • Environmental & Food Truck Branding • Retail Concepts
THE IDEA
The question behind every decision was simple: what could this become? I created the name "Big Belly's BBQ," confirmed it wasn't already in use, and built a full identity around it — a mascot with real personality, a warm smoke-and-comfort color palette, and a voice that's "friendly, soulful, neighborhood, bold flavor, playful but legit."
WHAT IT BECAME
What started as a menu grew into a complete brand system:
A full identity system — mascot, logo, color, typography, brand guide
Restaurant essentials: menu, packaging, napkins, apparel, food truck wrap
A side-of-building billboard concept and environmental signage
A retail extension: bottled sauces and a 3-flavor dry rub line, designed shelf-ready
A website concept and ad campaign showing how the brand could live beyond the restaurant itself
THE OUTCOME
Big Belly's BBQ shows what a brand looks like when you treat "design me a menu" as a bigger question. The name, the mascot, the retail line — none of it was asked for. It's a case study in what a Creative Director adds that a designer-for-hire doesn't: building the thing nobody asked for because you can see where it's headed.